Time-limit relay



Oct. 26 1926. 1,604,669

. H. 1.. VAN VALKENBURG T IME LIMI T RELAY Filed May 1.6, 1925 Patented a. 26, 1926.

' UNITED ST Ares PATENT OFFICE.

HEHMON L. VAN VALKENBURG; OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGINOR TO INDUS- TRIAL CONTROLLER COMPANY, 01? 11.

WISCONSIN,

WAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A. CORPORATION OF rmn-nmrrnnna I application filed May 16,1925. Serial No. 30,707.

My invention relates to electric switches and is shown in the form of a time limit relay. The general object of the invention is tov produce a switch. having an improved mechanism for effecting a quick break.

Another object is to provide a. nick opening switch in whichthe mova' le contact when in closed position will be positively locked in that position. A further object is to provide a switch in which the locking element for the movable contact automatically resets itself as the movable contact moves toward closed position. A further ob ject is to provide in a self closing, self locking switch manually operated means for suspending the normal closing and locking action, so that without changing the construction of the parts but by merely adding something to the mechanism the switch may be made to suspend its usual closing and locking action until permitted to do so by the operator.

I accomplish my objects by the mecha-. nism illustrated inthe accompanying drawings in which- I V Figure 1 is a side elevation chiefly in axial sectionshowing the invention as applied to a time limit relay.

F'gure 2 is similar to Figure 1 showing of the movable contact to closed and locked' position.

Figure Fi ure 6., F i v ike numerals denote like parts throughout the several views. 1 p

4 My present invention relates more particularly to the contacts and means by which they are operated, but in order to illustrate a practical application of the invention I have shown additional sub ect matter which a changed position of the parts, the-movable 7 is a plan section on the line 77 is not herein .claimed but forms the subject I of separate a plications filed by me on the ay, 1925, Serial No. 33,095,

27 day of and on the 29- day of May-, 1925, Serial No. 33,457.

To describe first the parts more intimate, ly associated with my present invention; the operating parts are mounted upon block orbody 10 of irregular outline and consisting of orcelain or other insulating mate rial. ounted upon this body is a contact 12 which I shall refer to as the stationary contact, although in practice .itis somewhat resilient so that contact may be maintained under pressure. Thisstationary contact is held by a screw 14 in electrical eontactwith a terminal element 16 which is provided with a binding screw 18. These parts may 1 be greatly varied in design, the important characteristic being that a contact is provided for cooperation with themovable contact 20.- r

'Said movable contact is. shown in perspective in Figure 4 and is in the form of a metallic frame having parallel bars 22 which are apertured at the points 24 near the rear end for pivotally supporting the parts on a stationary pin 26. This pin is supported upon a bracket 28 which is se-. cured to the insulatingbody 10 by a screw 30 or other appropriate means. This bracket according to the present design performs four functions: first, it forms a sup port for the pivot in 26 mentioned, second,

it is-provided 'wit .a binding post 32 and hence constitutes the second terminal of the switch, and third, it forms an abutment against which the latch-or detent 34 abuts to normally look the movable contact in closed position. It also forms an abutment for the compression spring 36 presently to be described.

A spring 38 is coiled around the pin 26 and at one end projects through an aperture 40 formed in a cross bar 42 which is one of the constituent parts of the movable c0ntact 20 as best shown at the upper right end of Figure 4. The other end of this' spring is anchored upon a tail'44 formed on one of two lugs 46 which'are integral with a presser'arm 48 shown in perspective in Figure .5. The presser arm is pivoted upon the pin 26 andmakes one-wav-engagerests upon arm 48.

in close engagement with the stationary but resilient contact 12.

Detent 34 is fulcrumed upon a pin 52 supported in the side'members 22 of the mov able contact as shown in perspective in F igure It is held in central position upon the pin by spacing'washers 54. When in acting position it abuts the nose 56 of stationary bracket 28 and locks the movable contact 20 closed. It also performs asecond function, that of delaying the opening of the movable contact until the presser arm has been raised an appreciable amount. The detent has an arm 58 which extends approximately horizontally and at its inner end As the arm rises it rotates the detent in counter clockwise direction, Figure 1, but the detent is not liberated from the nose 56 until it has rotated a considerable amount and the arm 48 has risen clear of lug 50. The result is that when the detent finally is liberated there will be nothing to prevent the spring 38 from quickly raising the movable contact 20 far enough quickly and upward slowly. It is conto insure against arcing.

Arm 58 also constitutes a weight for urging the detent 1n clockwise d1rect1on to enable it to automatically'engage the abut ment 56 as the movable contact descends.

The operation of the parts thus far described will now be readily understood. Normally the parts occupy the closed position shown in Figure 1. arm 48 gradually rises it willleave t e lug 50 on the movable contact, but the detent 34 will not immediately leave the abutment 56. Thus there is lost motion and the opening of the switch is delayed. By the time the detent is freed from the abutment the presser arm 48 will have risen a considerable dis tance and consequently a quick and complete opening of the movable contact will be efi'ected and the danger of arcing avoided. The parts finally occupy the position shown in Figure 2.- If, now, the presser arm 48 is permitted to descend again under the actionof the strong compression spring 36 it will force the lug 50 downward and cause the movable contact to reengage the stationary contact 12. As the detent 34 descends the weighted arm 58 will finally cause it to drop again into acting position shown in Figure l and reengage the abutment '56,

whereupon the movable contact will again become locked in closed position. From the foregoing it will be seen that the detent If,'now, the resser serves the double purpose of a mechanical lock for preventing accidental opening of the movable contact-when pressure is exerted directly against such movable contact, and a lost motion device for giving the arm 48 time enough to get out of the way of the lug 50 to permit a quick opening of the switch.

It will be evident that the presser arm 48 could be manually operated, but my invention is of especial utility as part of a time limit relay and hence I have shown such a mechanism and will now describe it.

The base of the insulating body 10 is apertu red beneath the presser arm 48 to accommodate the head of a trip pin 60. This pin hasa stem 62 which is vertically slidable in a guide 64. Said guide is supported by any suitable means, the present design including a bracket 66 secured to an insulating panel 68. Beneath the guide 64 is a ver-' tically movable core or plunger70 which forms part of an electro-magnet. It is surrounded by a solenoid 72 supported upon a bracket 74. The construction is such that when the solenoid is energized the core will rise and elevate the trip pin which will in turn raise the presser arm 48 and cause the switch to open in the manner described. The core is retarded in. its upward movement by retarding mechanism of any suitable type. In the present case the retarding effect is attained by a dash .pot 76. This contains a plunger 78 designed to move downward nected to the core 70 by a rod 80. The design of these parts, however, may be greatly varied as they are not intimately concerned with the present invention and form the subtion of my device may be suspended and the switch when once opened will be caused to remainopen until the operator permits it to close again. This optional mechanism is shown in Fi ures 6 and 7 and includes a slide 82 which rests upon the bracket 66 and slides in a horizontal direction beneath the insulating'body 10. It has a longi tudinal slot/84 for accommodating the connecting rod 80 so that the rod will not interfere with the free horizontal movement of the slide. The slide has a cam 86 whi "hconstitutes a lockout capable of holding the head 60 of the trip pin in elevated position as shown in Figure 6. At its outer end the slide has a vertical flange 88 against which presses a compression spring 90. The inner end of the sprin abuts the body 10 with the result that the slide is constantly urged toward the left Figures 6 and 7 to bring the hump under the head of the pm.

A push button 92 is secured to the flange,

88 for pushing the slide inward, that is, toward the left from the position shown in Figure 6 to that shown in Figure 7; in-

other words, from acting to non-acting position. Spring 90 is not strong enough to cause the trip pin 60 to be moved upward when the slide is in non-acting position and hence when the push button pushes the slide inward toward non-acting position the trip pin will be lowered and the switch will be closed and the spring 36 will normally hold the parts in this position, but when the trip pin is raised by the plunger 70 or other means the slide will move to actin position shown in Figure G and remain t ere until the operator has restored it to'the' non acting position shown in Figure 7. Thus the slide is a self-acting lock for locking out the trip pin. It will be observed that this slide calls for no reorganizing of the-parts shown in Figures 1 to 5 inclusive, I )I' lS it for retracting it, said detent being timedtorelease subsequent to the departure of the.

a substitute for any of other .parts of the apparatus. If it is absent but, desired it may be introduced by-merely liftingoutthe trip pin 60, temporarily slipping the" parts in place and then returning the pm, I j

Having thus described my invention what claim as new and desire -to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A switch having a movable contact, an abutment, a detent engageable with said abutment and mounted on said movable contact for locking it in closed position, and

spring actuated means making one-way'engagement with the movable contact in a direction to close it, and engaging the detent spring actuated means from the movable contact, whereby the spring actuated means will be clear of the movable contact when the detent lets go and thus will permit the movable contact to open quickly when released.

2. A switch having a movable contact, a presser element making one way engagement with said contact and biased toward it a stationary abutment,.and a detent adapted to engage said abutment for holding the movable contact in closed position, said presser element beingadapted to inove the detent toward non-acting position during the movement of said presser element .away from said movable. contact, whereby the presser element clears the movable contact before the detent releases said movable contact.

3. A switch having a movable contact, a

presser element making one-way engagement with said contact in a. direction to close it, a stationary abutment, a detent for normally lockin I said movable contact in closed position, sai presser element being operative upon said detent and. adapted to move itout of engagement with the abutment when said presser element is repressed, said presser element being movable an appreci-- able distance toward repressed position be-. fore it liberates the detent from the abutfrom the movable contact prior to theliberation of the movable contact by the detent and the contact, when it is finally released, moves with a quick action.

4. A switch having a movable contact, a presser element making one way engagement ment, wherebyv the presser element recedes u on said contact to close it, a stationary a utment, A a detent pivotally mounted on said movable contact and adapted to engage said abutment for normally locking said contact in closed position, said presser element being operatlve upon said detent and adapted to retract it when said presser elementv is repressed, said presser element being movable an appreciable distance toward repressed position prior to the full retraction of the detent.

5. A switchhavinga movable contact, a detent mounted on the movable contact and adapted to hold it in closed position, and a presser element biased toward said movable contact in a direction to close the latter, and making one-way engagement with it, the presser element being operative upon the detent and adapted tomove the latter to non-acting position as the presser element recedes from the movable contact,

said detent being biased toward acting position whereby it may move into acting posi 'tion as the presser element recedes from it and the movable contact returns to closed position. i

6. A switch having a movable contact, a

presser element making one-way engageautomatically returns .to acting position as the contact is being closed.

7. A switch having a movable contact, a detent mounted on the movable contact for looking it in closed position, an abutment cooperating with the detent to hold the movable contact blocked, a presser element matically engage it as the'presser element eturns the movable contact to closed posit1on,'the detent being timed to disengage the abutment subsequent to the initial movement of the presser element away from the movablecontact. Y I

8. A switch having a movable contact, a detent for locking it in closed position, spring pressed means making one-way engagement with the movable contact in a direction to close it, and also engaging the detent for retracting it, said detent being timed to release subsequent to the departure of the spring pressed means from the movable contact, a trip pin for actuating said spring pressed "means against its bias, and means for locking'said pin in acting position.

9. A switch having a movable contact, a detent for looking it in closed position, spring pressed means making one-way engagement. with the movable contact in a direction to close it, and also engagin the detent for retracting it, said detent being .timed .to release subsequent to the departure of the spring pressed means from the movable contact, a trip pin for actuating said spring pressed means against its bias, a

latch adapted to engage the pin for holding it in acting position, said latch having a hump abutting the pin whereby the latch is normally held in non-acting position by the pin, and a spring for urging said latch to acting position whereby it -will move to acting position as soon as the hump is released by the movement of the pin to acting position I I 10. A switch having a movable contact, a detent for locking it in closed position, spring pressed means making one-wayengagement with the movable contact in a direction to close it, and also engaging the detent -for retracting it, said detent being timed to release subsequent to the departure is normally held in non-acting position by of the spring pressed means from the movable contact, a trip pin for actuating said spring pressed means against its bias, a latch adapted to engage the pin for holding it in acting position, said latch having a hump abutting the pin whereby the latch .overbalanced to rotate direction to hol quence, to hold the contact in closed posi-- the pin, a spring for urging said latch to acting position whereby it will move to acting position as soon as the hump is released by the movement of the pin to'acting position, and manually operated means for restoring the latch to non-acting position.

11. A time limit relay having a movable contact, a detent for looking it in closed po sition, spring actuated means making oneway engagement with the movable contact closed, a detent pivotally mounted on the. ,movable contact for normally looking it in closed osition, a stationary abutment against which the detent locks, the detent being movable to a limited extent while maintaining engagement with the abutment to delay the release of the movable contact, and means for repressing the arm and simultaneously moving the detent in a direction to disengage the abutment whereby the movable contact remains closed for a period after the spring pressed arm releases the movable contact but before the detent .leaves the abutment and permits the movable-contact to open. 7

.13. An electric switch having a movable contact, a stationary abutment, a detent pivotally mounted on the movable, contact in position to engage the abutment when the movable contact is closed to thereby lock it closed, a presser element operable upon the movable contact in a direction to close it when the presser element moves backward, said presser element being operable upon the detent to move the detent in, a direction to disengage the abutment when the presser element moves forward, said detent being in. a direction to engage the abutment when the presser element moves forward, means for-moving the movable contact toward open position when the presser element disengages it, and means foractuating the presser element, in a direction to close the movable contact.

14. A switch having a movable contact, a movable arm making one-way engagement with said contact to hold it in closed position, a spring acting upon said arm in a it active, and, in consetion, a detent for locking the contact in closed position, and an element independent of said spring; for moving the detent and the arm to non-acting position.

15. A switch having a movable contact, a pivoted arm making one-Way engagement ith said contact to hold it in closed position, a spring acting upon said arm in-a direction to hold it active, a stationary abutment, a detent pivotally mounted upon'said contact and adapted to cooperate With the abutment for locking the Contact in closed position, and an element independent of said spring for moving the detent and the arm to non-acting position.

16.'A-sWitch havinga movable contact,

a spring for moving it to open position,

' a movable arm making one way engagement with the contact for closing the latter, a second spring operative upon said arm for forcing it and the contact towards closed influenced by said arm in moving to nonactingposition to-therebycause the detent to disengage the abutment and thus unlock the contact. p

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

HERMON L. VAN VALKENBURG. 

